Rooted 10 – Make Every Effort

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness... Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless... but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever. Amen. (2 Peter 3:10-18)

Because the world as we know it will end, the question is not whether we can predict the day, but whether we are living ready for it.

The World as We Know It Will End

This last week in Mexico City, Elon Musk—the founder and CEO of SpaceX, Tesla Motors, and chairman of Solar City—stood before a large conference and spoke for about ninety minutes about his goal of colonizing Mars by the end of this next decade. He showed computer animations of a huge spaceship intended to send a hundred people at a time to Mars, with plans to build a colony of more than a million people on the red planet over the next half-century to century.

This man intrigues me, so I follow some of what he says. One thing you learn listening to him is that he is wholly committed to his mission—getting people to Mars with SpaceX, moving people off fossil fuels with Tesla, and toward renewable resources with Solar City. He is committed because he is convinced this world will not always be as it is. He believes some cataclysmic event will take place. There have been extinction events in the past, he says, and there is certain to be one in the future.

Whatever else you might say about Elon Musk—and there's plenty—he holds the same conviction Peter presents in this passage: the world as we know it will end. Musk bases that conviction on other things than Peter did, but Peter was thoroughly convinced of it, and so were Paul, James, and John. So has the church been for two thousand years. Peter says it like this: the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat.

What Is the Day of the Lord?

Peter was not alone in calling it the day of the Lord. Go back through Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and Amos, and these prophets of old spoke of the coming day of God. Paul speaks of it, and Jesus prophesied about the very same thing. Things have not always been as they are, and they will not always be as they currently are, because the day of the Lord will come.

As the Scriptures describe it, the day of the Lord is that day in which God intervenes in the realm of humanity for judgment. He did so thousands of years ago—Peter referred to it in the previous passage—back in Genesis 6, 7, and 8 with the flood of Noah. God surveyed the world, determined judgment, and brought a global flood, sparing only Noah and his family. Yet God gave a covenant that He would never again destroy the world with a flood. We see it in Genesis 9, and the rainbow remains the sign of that covenant.

No One Knows the Day or Hour

When will the day of the Lord come? Peter says it will come as a thief in the night—suddenly, without warning. Anyone who tells you they have pinpointed it through some Bible code or intricate algorithm is either self-deceived or selling something, and maybe a little of both. Over the last twenty to forty years, people have sold many books claiming to pinpoint the time, and even now people project specific dates.

What do the Scriptures say? In Acts 1, Jesus's early followers were interested in the timing too. They asked Him, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" Jesus said:

It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. (Acts 1:7)

This was consistent with His teaching. In Matthew 24—the largest section where Jesus speaks about the end of the age—He says:

Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. (Matthew 24:35-36)

Underline, highlight, and put a star next to verse 36. When someone tells you they've pinpointed the day, remember this passage. Jesus continued that as in the days of Noah—when everything was business as usual, eating and drinking and marrying until Noah entered the ark—so will the coming of the Son of Man be. "Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect." I don't know how He could get any more emphatic: you will not know when, but you should be ready.

Why We Believe This

The skeptic might ask why anyone would believe such a thing. The reason Peter believed and said it is that the same Person who taught him these things would, about a week later, be crucified on a Roman cross and three days after that rise from the dead. You would assume that One who died, rose, and ascended into heaven might have some authoritative position to say the end will come.

It sounds far out when Elon Musk says it, far out when I say it, far out when Peter says it. But the reason they believed and taught these things is that Jesus, the One who preached it, was crucified, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven. They concluded He probably has authority on these matters. And this authoritative Teacher said you will not know the day or the hour, but heaven and earth will pass away.

Charles Spurgeon, the Prince of Preachers, said this: "Though many attempts have been made to form a consistent scheme of prophecy, not one has been even moderately successful... They are perfectly consistent and their order is divine, but we shall need to actually see the fulfillment to make clear the plan. So intricate is the architecture of the future history that the architect himself alone knows where this stone and that stone are to be ordained." Only God knows when these things shall come to pass—but He did tell us the end will one day come.

The Nature of That Day

What will that day be like? Peter says the heavens will pass away with a great noise, the elements will melt with fervent heat, and both the earth and the works in it will be burned up. Here's the forecast: it's going to be really, really hot, and no rain—because that already happened, and God said He wouldn't do that again.

There is considerable debate among scholars as to whether the day of the Lord brings the total annihilation of the earth and cosmos, or whether this fire is a purifying, refining fire that purges all sin and wickedness from the cosmos. Other prophetic passages seem to allude to things continuing on. So which is it—complete destruction, or purging and purification? There are arguments on both sides. In my humble opinion, I tend to side with the view that this is a purifying fire that refines and purges out all sin, after which God renews and makes all things new.

While we don't understand every detail, many passages speak of this day. Isaiah 2:12 says it will come on everything proud and lofty. Isaiah 13 and Joel 1 describe destruction from the Almighty. Joel 2:31 calls it the great and awesome day of the Lord. Malachi 4 calls it the great and dreadful day of the Lord. It is also called the day of Christ, the day of God, the day of judgment, the day of calamity, the day of wrath, the day of His fierce anger, the day of vengeance, the day of doom, the day of indignation. None of those sound good. They sound more like Hollywood titles than Scripture references. It is the great and terrible day that brings darkness, distress, and wrath upon a sinful, fallen world.

Not Appointed to Wrath

What shall become of those who have put their faith in Christ? Turn to 1 Thessalonians. Paul ends chapter 4 saying, "Therefore comfort one another with these words." Then he continues:

For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night... But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day... For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:2-9)

Notice the "they" versus the "you." The day of the Lord comes as a thief upon those who say "peace and safety," and sudden destruction comes upon them. But you who have put your faith in Christ are not appointed to wrath. How does that work? When Jesus died on the cross, He took upon Himself all sin and absorbed the wrath of God against it, so that you who trust in Him will not be appointed to wrath.

These words are bookended by comfort: "comfort one another with these words" (4:18) and "comfort each other and edify one another" (5:11). In the middle stands the day of the Lord—sudden destruction upon those without faith, but no condemnation for those who are children of the light, awake and enlightened by the Spirit of grace.

Our Knowledge of the Future Should Alter Our Present Behavior

But notice the "therefore" in 1 Thessalonians 5:6: "let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober." Because we know this day will come, it should have a transforming effect on our lives.

Look at 2 Peter 3:11: "Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness." This is the second point: our knowledge of the future should alter our present behavior. The J.B. Phillips translation says, "In view of the fact that all these things are to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be? Surely men of good and holy character, who live expecting and earnestly longing for the coming of the day of God."

Where did Peter and Paul get this? From the One who died, rose, and ascended. Jesus said in Matthew 24:42, "Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming." Verse 44, "Therefore you also be ready." Matthew 25:13, "Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour." The wise follower of Jesus is a vigilant servant.

Christians Look Forward to the End of All Things

Peter continues: "Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells" (2 Peter 3:13). This is the third point: Christians look forward to the end of all things. This needs to be parsed carefully. We should never look forward with excitement to the day of wrath—even the Old Testament prophets said woe to him who longs for it. But what comes on the other side of the purifying fire, when God purges all sin from the earth, is what we look forward to.

According to His promise, He makes all things new. Whether it is a wholly new creation or a renewed creation after sin is purged, it is new. What does it look like? Turn to Revelation 21:

Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away... And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. (Revelation 21:1-4)

No death, no pain, no sorrow, no illness. I don't know about you, but that sounds really good. "Then He who sat on the throne said, 'Behold, I make all things new.'" That is what we look forward to—when the purging fire removes everything that came as a result of sin: death, sickness, suffering, sorrow, tears. When sin is gone, God can dwell with His people.

God Has Promised a Glorious Future

I long for this, because I see the same news you do. When children get shot at school, when people are bombed in Syria or beheaded in northern Iraq, there is a part in every one of us that says that needs to stop. We long for the day when it stops, and the Bible proclaims there will be a day when it will be no more. So we have an optimistic vision of the future—the fourth point: God has promised a glorious future.

Therefore, 2 Peter 3:14: "Beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless." The NIV says, "Since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with Him."

Make Every Effort

Peter loves this phrase "make every effort," using it four times in this short letter. In 2 Peter 1:10: "Be even more diligent to make your call and election sure." In 1:15: "I will make every effort to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my death." And here in 3:14.

What does it mean to make every effort? I regularly go to the gym, and last week, running on the treadmill, I watched someone use the pull-up assist machine. You set the weight, stand on a bar, and the weight reduces your bodyweight to make pull-ups easier. This person was knocking out pull-ups for days—but they'd set the weight to about 150 pounds and couldn't have weighed more than 170. From a distance they looked awesome, but in reality they weren't making every effort.

Or remember the infomercial ab belt? "You want firm, toned abs but don't have time to work out?" Just put it on and push the button, and it shocks you—no workout required. They'd show a ripped model and hand him a check. But the ab belt is not making every effort.

How do we make every effort? Look at 2 Peter 1:5:

Giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:5-8)

Paul tells young Timothy in 1 Timothy 4 to "exercise yourself toward godliness, for bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come." Bodily exercise is good for this world but won't go on into eternity. Exercise toward godliness has rewards in this life and the one to come.

God's Promise Should Prompt Our Pursuit of Godliness

This is the fifth point: God's glorious promise should prompt our diligent pursuit of godliness. Peter continues: "Consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation" (2 Peter 3:15). Earlier, the scoffer asked, "Where is the sign of His coming? Why is He delaying?" The Lord delays because He is gracious. Verse 9 said He is "not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance."

Why has Jesus not returned yet? Because He does not delight in the death of the wicked. In 2 Timothy 2, Paul tells Timothy to pray for all men, because God desires that all would be saved. God's desire is not that anyone would face His wrath, because Jesus took the punishing wrath of God on the cross. So He gives us time to share the good news of the gospel, that people would turn to the Lord in repentance.

One quick sideline: Peter wrote this letter around AD 66, and already the church regarded Paul's letters as Scripture. He says Paul wrote "as also in all his letters... in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures" (2 Peter 3:16).

Therefore, because the Lord will one day return, because He has promised a glorious future, and because He waits in grace wanting to save more people, verse 17: "You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen." What should we be doing? Exercising ourselves in godliness, growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Closing Prayer

Father God, I thank You for Your word. It's challenging—we're dealing with subjects we don't like to ponder, the coming day of wrath. But Lord, I thank You that You have not appointed us to wrath but to obtain salvation through Your Son Jesus. We thank You that on the cross two thousand years ago You took our sin, our transgression, our iniquity, and absorbed the wrath for us that we might receive grace and righteousness. Lord, I pray that the message of grace would so impact our lives that we would not hold it back but be compelled to give it out freely. As we have received, may we freely give. May we be watching and waiting, ready for the day You come and call us home. Until then, give us the same passion and desire You have to see people come to the knowledge of the truth and to repentance, that we would not desire that any would perish.

If you recognized for the first time that you're not ready for that day of the Lord but you'd like to be—Jesus absorbed all of God's wrath in Himself on the cross two thousand years ago. He died for our sin and rose again for our justification, to make us righteous before a holy God. If you want to receive His grace and forgiveness, pray with me: Dear Jesus, I recognize that I am a sinner. I realize that I need Your grace. I pray that You would come into my life, forgive me of my sin, and help me to follow You by faith until I see You one day. In Jesus' name, amen.